Daniel Amos, Terry Taylor, Swirling Eddies, Lost Dogs, DA

Your humble blogger has been following Daniel Amos and their various monikers as well as their friend’s bands from almost the beginning. Seeing that I’m from Southern CA, the birthplace of creative Christian music, I was able to see and hear them early on. Later I enjoyed them at C-Stone and dinky venues throughout the midwest. I could wax nostalgic all day and then some. I have tons of their CDs and have made mix tapes and mix CDRs innumerable. Check out the last video if nothing else.

Terry Scott Taylor (born May 24, 1950) is an American songwriter, record producer, writer and founding member of the bands Daniel Amos and the Swirling Eddies (credited as Camarillo Eddy). Taylor is also a member of the roots and alternative music group, Lost Dogs as well as being a member of the Rapsures,a gospel Rap group for kids. He is based in Orange County, California, USA.

Taylor is highly regarded for his songwriting skills. These often include allusions to and reworkings of material ranging from Elizabethan poets to modern authors. Foremost among Taylor’s influences is William Blake. The Daniel Amos album title Fearful Symmetry was drawn from Blake’s poem “The Tyger,” and numerous songs across the The Alarma! Chronicles series of albums have Blake-inspired references. Some other poets who have influenced Taylor’s work are T. S. Eliot and Christina Rossetti. Eliot’s poetry inspired the song “Hollow Man” from the Doppelgänger album. “Where Dreams Come True” from Taylor’s solo LP A Briefing for the Ascent draws heavily from Rosetti’s poem “Echo.”
The inspiration for many Daniel Amos and Taylor songs from the mid-1980’s can be found in the book Behold, This Dreamer: Of Reverie, Night, Sleep, Dream, Love-Dreams, Nightmare, Death. This book, compiled by Walter de la Mare and published in 1939, contains poems and essays that appear in Taylor’s songwriting. De la Mare is thanked in the liner notes of the final installment of The Alarma! Chronicles, Fearful Symmetry. References to contemporary authors also appear in Taylor’s songs. One example is the song “Shape of Air” from the LP Darn Floor-Big Bite. The song explores the mystical musings of Annie Dillard found in her Pulitzer prize-winning book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The album is also heavily inspired by the works of Czesław Miłosz. This is especially evident in songs like “The Unattainable Earth” (which was named after one of Miłosz’ books), “Safety Net”, “Pictures of the Gone World”, “Divine Instant”, and “Half Light, Epoch, and Phase”.

During the 1990s and into the new millennium, Taylor’s songwriting for the Lost Dogs and on other projects turned away from more esoteric themes. The songs crafted during this phase of Taylor’s career marked a shift toward “Americana” and, in some ways, a return to the country music sound of Daniel Amos in the early 1970s. The primary vehicle for this phase of Taylor’s songwriting career is the Lost Dogs, with a number of noteworthy solo projects. The Lost Dogs began in 1991 as a one-time collaboration between vocalists and songwriters from four different bands at the behest of their label at that time. Taylor, Gene Eugene (of Adam Again), Derri Daugherty (of The Choir), and Michael Roe (of The 77s) have released several eclectic albums of traditional American music (country, folk, blues, rock) over the last decade.

These past few weeks I’ve been partaking in bite-sized pieces this latest work: Slow Trauma by the musician known as Bill Mallonee. The Big Sky Ramblers is the current name of all who record and perform alongside him. These days it is mostly Bill and his kind bride, Muriah Rose. This release – yes I have […]

Excellent intro to the work of Bill Mallonee and and his ever changing but never less than excellent musical cohorts in this thing called: Magic, Life, Pain, Confession and sometimes fleetingly, but ultimately permanent Joy. Oh, and great folk-rock to bring a smile to your face through wit, and road weary wisdom, even if flavored with a […]

Beautiful Christmas music to play as an instrumental backdrop to reading your current book or wrapping presents for a loved one; or simply considering the love and majesty of the one true King. God bless you and may each of you find your true love in the one Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior.Filed under: Music […]

The Ocean Blue are currently celebrating the new vinyl reissues of their three Sire Records albums with a tour where they’re playing their self-titled 1989 debut album and 1991’s Cerulean in full. That tour is in NYC tonight (11/19) for a sold-out show at Mercury Lounge. All tour dates are listed below. We’ve got the […]

hello I feel the same is an album of eleven new songs, available to pre-order now on CD, digital download, or translucent green vinyl. Available for pre-order from iTunes on September 23. Available in your local record shop on October 16. Filed under: Music

Originally released on “Surrounded By Lights” in 2008. Here is the new improved version. This is one of my favorite original songs to date. I just had to make some serious adjustments so this song could be what it was meant to be. Thanks for listening. credits Jesse Sprinkle: Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Drums, and Percussion […]

FREE DOWNLOAD One of Mr. Larry Norman’s songs I really liked. The Jesus Movement of the 70’s held “the Rapture” as a tenet of faith. They were simple, passionate about their faith in Christ’s Resurrection, atonement and Second Coming. I dunno what I think about the doctrine of eschatology anymore as far as a chronology […]

Love this one – truly epic. ADAGIO words/music by: bill mallonee it all showed up fractured it all showed up broke it was never a story more like an unfinished note and the sighs? they were deafening more than pictures could show adagio from WPA 18​/​HEAVEN IN YOUR HEART, released 04 July 2013 Bill: guitars, […]

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Music That Makes a Difference to Me

While carefully and passionately crafted art is highly sought after by this reviewer and music lover, there has to be more, much more to make it special. Music to be lasting and to truly take root must have something deeper. The music by itself or the music with vocals must speak to a longing or a need within me, acknowledged or suppressed.

The music that touches me the deepest is that which speaks of longing, seeking and most important: the revealing and unraveling of one broken life to another.

Hey, we're all a mess and need help from each other and from God. We can't go through this alone; we need the light cast dimly from one another to see the path before us and guide us to the true light.